Текст книги "Into the Deep"

Автор книги: Samantha Young

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Текущая страница: 5 (всего у книги 18 страниц)

“Who? What? Who? How?” Andie’s hazel eyes, identical to mine, were wide as she stared into the camera.

That was pretty much the reaction I’d been expecting when I told her via Skype that Jake was in Edinburgh.

“You heard me,” I replied, gazing past her to her office. Light spilled in from a window somewhere, reminding me I was five hours ahead. It was almost midnight in Scotland but Andie was always so busy with grad school and her internship that we could only talk on her schedule. I didn’t mind. I really wanted to talk to her.

“Jake, your ex-boyfriend Jake? The Jake who knew that you were always planning to spend your third year studying abroad at the University of Edinburgh?”

And that was exactly why I really wanted to talk to my big sister.

She knew mostly everything about my relationship with Jake, not because she’d been there to witness it (she’d only met him once during her Christmas break home from Dublin), but because I’d told her probably every little detail. This meant she knew that Jake was privy to all my thoughts and feelings and plans and dreams.

I’d talked to Jake a million times about studying in Edinburgh because Andie was always calling home from Dublin talking about what an amazing time she was having. I wanted to study in Europe too, and while Ireland struck my sister’s fancy, for me, it was Scotland. Jake had said he wanted to come with me.

“Yes.”

“So,” Andie scrunched up her nose as she ran her hand through her hair, a habit we shared and a tell that we were trying to work something out, “he obviously came to Edinburgh because he knew you’d be there. Why? To apologize? To get you back?”

And this more specifically was why I wanted to talk to Andie. It was the question I’d been too scared and confused to ask, so I wanted someone else to ask it because I knew if they did, it would make me feel less crazy for thinking it. I still felt crazy. Because of Melissa. “He did apologize. But he’s here with his friends and … his girlfriend.”

“He brought another girl? What!” Andie slammed her hands on the desk and leaned closer into the camera so her nose and mouth looked huge. “He knew you’d be there, that little …”

I sat back and let Andie have her rant, expelling all the questions and anger I too was feeling. When she was done, she sat back, exhaling.

“Uh, everything okay in here?” a masculine voice I knew well asked from off camera.

Andie twisted her head around to stare in the direction of the voice and her face got soft. “Yeah, baby, I’m just raging on behalf of Supergirl.”

“What happened?”

“Boy problems.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled sarcastically. That made it seem so trivial.

“Do I need to kick someone’s ass?” The voice got closer and then Rick’s handsome face appeared beside Andie’s. “You okay, Charley?”

“Hey, Rick, good to see you.” I wasn’t lying. My sister’s fiancé was the shit. He was ten years older than Andie and a Chicago police detective. They met a year ago when Andie’s friend’s car got stolen and Andie had driven her to the precinct. To Andie’s friend’s annoyance, Detective Rick Pertrard, who’d overheard the complaint to the officer on duty, had taken an immediate shine to the damsel-in-distress’s friend and not the damsel herself. He’d asked for Andie’s number and the rest was history. They moved in together after only six months and got engaged two months after that. I loved the changes I saw in my sister. She was far less concerned with being perfect all the time, and she’d definitely loosened up.

As for me, I kept trying to make Rick my mentor but since my parents still weren’t happy with the cop idea, he was fighting me on it, more concerned with being a good son-in-law than encouraging me down a career path he knew would piss off my parents. That sucked, but he was still the shit.

“You too, sweetheart, but I repeat: are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

He frowned and looked at Andie. “Then what’s with the raging?”

“She’s not fine. She’s very far from fine but she’s Charley, so she’s fine.”

Rick’s gaze flickered between us. “As long as you understand each other, I guess.” He kissed her cheek and waved goodbye to me before heading out of shot.

Andie turned as soon as he was gone. “So what’s your plan?”

I shrugged. “No plan. It looks like we might have to be around each other because Claudia is hanging out with Jake’s best friend. A lot. I need to suck it up.”

“Charley, despite what I just said to Rick, this is me you’re talking to. I came home from Dublin to find my baby sister a wreck. What happened with Jake changed you and I never got my old Charley back, so you can say you’re fine to everyone else, but not to me. Okay?”

Her words automatically called on the lump in my throat and I looked away from the screen, fighting tears. I failed and swiped at them. “I’m not doing this again,” I told her harshly. “I already sobbed my guts out to Claudia after the party.”

“Good.”

I looked at my sister as if I’d just discovered she was the devil incarnate. “What?” I snapped.

“I know you think tears make you less badass but screw that. You can’t bottle that stuff up. I know everyone told you to get over him, that he was just puppy love, but your family—never. We never said it because we never believed that. You were young but it was real, and I wanted to hunt him down and kill him for breaking your heart. A heart, I might add, that has never quite been the same since. Look at you and Alex.”

“I’m not talking about Alex,” I groaned.

Andie held up her hands in surrender. “Okay, we won’t talk about Alex. But I will say that I think you are crazy if you spend time with Jake. It would be crazy anyway, but even crazier because he’s there with his girlfriend.”

I nodded glumly. “You’re right.”

“Of course I’m right. I’m a psychiatrist.”

“You’re not a psychiatrist yet.”

“I know. Only two more years.” She grimaced. “God … I don’t think I’m going to make it.”

I thought of the next nine months and spending it avoiding Jake and the knifelike feeling in my chest every time I saw him. “I know what you mean.”

It was almost the end of week one of classes and I was already feeling the weight. Papers were due, tutorial materials were needed. I would actually have to do school work while I was here. The induction week in a foreign city had kind of lulled me into a false sense that I was on vacation.

With classes up and running, Claudia and I had agreed to put our heads down and get organized. We could go back to having fun once we were settled into our academics.

Settling in for me would usually mean my brain was too cluttered with thoughts on classes to be able to concentrate on anything else, but not this time. I hated to admit it, but Jake Caplin was taking up way more of my thoughts than I’d like.

While running my finger along the books in the reserve section of the university library in search of material I needed for an upcoming tutorial, I heard his voice right beside my ear. I jumped, thinking I’d actually conjured him.

“Jesus,” Jake cried out softly, dodging my flailing arm.

I glared up at him, my hand now pressed to my chest as I tried to get my heart rate to normalize. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know the words ‘Hey, Charley’ were considered lethal.”

“They are if you sneak up behind me and practically whisper them in my ear. It’s creepy. Creepiness often precedes death.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he replied in a strangled voice.

“You do that.” I turned back to the bookshelf so I didn’t have to look at his gorgeous face, which happened to need a shave. When Jake needed a shave, he looked beyond hot. It was so unfair.

I felt his head dip close to mine. “Whatcha looking for?”

“The equation for time travel. Some guy just gave me permanent heart failure and I’d like to go back in time and change today so that I’m lying on a beach in Guam being waited on by a hottie named Han with heavy footsteps and an aversion to whispering.”

Jake chuckled and I felt the deep sound in every one of my erogenous zones. “Still a smart-ass, I see,” he said.

I looked up at him and ignored the fact that he was wearing another tight-fitting, long-sleeved shirt and that he obviously worked out. His shoulders and biceps were broader than they used to be and I realized belatedly that even his face was a little different. It was sharper, harder, the softness of youth having melted away.

He was quite possibly more beautiful than he used to be. Wonderful.

My gaze shifted past him and I shrugged casually. “Some things change. Some things don’t.”

“You have and you haven’t.”

His comment brought my eyes back to his. I frowned. “What do you mean?”

It was now Jake’s turn to shrug. “You’re still a smart-ass, still cocky, but you’re quieter about it, more reserved. You’re not … you don’t seem as open to people as you used to be.”

Finding myself in dangerous territory, I deflected his observation with sarcasm. “I was never open to people, but I live in a small town and was given little choice in the matter.”

Jake ignored the sarcasm. “Come grab a coffee with me.”

I felt an uncomfortable flip in my chest. “Now?”

“Yeah. There’s a café across the main forum of the library. It’s two seconds away. We’re here. It’s there. We could be drinking coffee or juice or soda, milk even, or tea, or you know they have food there too …”

“Jake Caplin, are you rambling?”

He nodded, his warm eyes alight with humor. “I’m rambling. I’m a rambler now.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I tilted my head with an arrogant smile. “Are you nervous around me?”

His mouth curled up at the corner and he gave me a little nod. “I’m nervous you’ll say no. Our last coffee didn’t go so well.”

I hadn’t thought it had gone poorly. I made a face. “Didn’t it?”

“You walked out after taking three sips.”

“I was making a statement.”

Jake shrugged, all humor suddenly gone from his expression. “Well, I didn’t like it. I don’t want you to repeat that statement.”

I knew by the rapid fluttering in my chest that agreeing to have coffee with Jake was a bad idea. Andie would also think it was a bad idea. However, the whoosh in my belly—a consequence of Jake’s intense focus on me and worry that I’d reject his friendship—was something I hadn’t felt since we’d been together. It was a sudden reminder how addictive the belly whoosh I got from Jake’s attention was.

And I found myself giving in to temptation. “I could do coffee.”

His slow smile caused another big whoosh and I told my belly to get a grip as I walked out. I followed Jake across the crowded main entrance of the library, a forum that students had turned into a hangout, and we let ourselves into the perplex security gates to the library café. The place was packed, so I found us a spot to sit near brightly colored bean cushions while he got us coffee.

Five minutes later I looked up and watched him coming toward me with the tray in his hands. The belly whoosh went to war with the ache of the loss of him in my chest. I forgot how much I loved the way his tall body moved. The pleasure of watching him was so familiar.

It amazed me that the residual feelings from our eight months together felt like an album of memories compiled over years.

Taking a seat across from me, Jake smiled. “So, it looks like we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other over the next few months. I think we should try to get past the weirdness.”

What a conversation opener. “Straight to the point.”

“The Charley I knew was a straight-talker. Has that changed too?”

I blew over my hot coffee and replied before taking a sip, “What do you think?”

Jake snorted. “I’m thinking that hasn’t changed.”

We drank from our mugs, silence falling between us. I knew Jake was waiting for me to lead the way, telling me that the ball was in my court and he was happy to go along with whatever I wanted. In the interest of keeping our new group sweet, I put my mug down and relaxed back into my chair. “How are your mom and dad?”

Relief visibly traveled through Jake’s body and he too relaxed. “They’re good. We moved back to Chicago and Dad got his old job back. Mom was happy to be back with all her old friends. They’re doing a lot better. What about your family?”

“They’re okay. Dad’s busier than ever at work but Mom’s store hit troubles. The basement has some really dangerous mold growing in there, so she’s had to close down while they deal with that. It’s expensive in a lot of ways but you know Mom, you can’t keep her down. She’s working from the house. It’s driving Dad nuts.”

Jacob’s eyes brightened and he nodded. “I’ll bet. What about Andie?”

I smiled now as I thought of Rick. I was so happy my sister had found the right guy. “She’s great. Living in Chicago. Postgrad psych, doing her internship, and she’s engaged to a rugged police detective.”

“Who you’ve bribed into being your mentor,” Jake guessed drolly.

I felt another pang in my chest at the reminder of how well he knew me. I shrugged it off as if it wasn’t a big deal he knew all the simple stuff about me that made me me. “I tried. He’s too concerned with impressing Mom and Dad to commit, but I’ll wear him down.”

Jake gave a huff a laughter. “I have no doubt.”

Brushing off the moment, I asked about his brother Lukas.

Jake instantly grinned. “Oh, he says hi.”

“Tell him I say hi back.” It occurred to me Jake must’ve mentioned he’d run into me, and I wondered if his whole family knew. I also wondered how they felt about that.

“He said to say that he saw the picture of you and Lowe on Facebook and you’re looking, and I quote, ‘hotter than ever.’”

Remembering Lukas’s crush on me, I laughed. “He hasn’t changed. He was worse than you. I imagine he’s breaking hearts all over a college campus as we speak.”

“Well, yeah, but he tells me he’s met ‘the one.’ He slept with her first week in and she’s an even bigger player than he is and doesn’t feel like settling down with the first freshman she banged. So Lukas’s game plan is to outplay her in some weird, modern mating ritual.”

Laughter bubbled between my lips as I attempted to ignore the fact that I had a new ache from missing Lukas too. In my intense pain over losing Jake, I’d almost forgotten how much I cared about his little brother.

We yammered on for a while about family and then somehow, the conversation got turned around to my dating life.

“Am I in a relationship?” I repeated Jake’s quiet question and then slowly shook my head. “No. I was back in freshman year. Since then, though, I’ve not really been looking for anything serious. I’m just focused on college and my friends.”

Jake nodded thoughtfully and then asked, “What happened to the guy from freshman year? Were you together long?”

“About ten months.”

This appeared to surprise Jake, and not in a good way. I still knew him well enough to know that the flicker of hardness in his dark eyes meant he didn’t like something. I pushed it aside. “That’s a while,” he finally responded, taking a long sip of his cooling coffee.

“Yeah.” I didn’t say anything else because I didn’t want to talk about it. Especially not with Jake. “So,” I drew in a deep breath, hating that my stomach churned just at the mere thought of my question, “how long have you and Melissa been together?”

He stared at me a moment, perhaps trying to gauge if I could really handle the answer to my question. He put his empty coffee mug down and sat back. “We were friends first. We met sophomore year at the study abroad meeting, actually. Our friends started hanging out and uh, Melissa wanted to date but … um, well, we finally got there at the end of sophomore year so that takes us to six months of actual dating.”

“She’s beautiful. And she seems really nice, Jake,” I said. And I meant it. I didn’t like it, but I meant it.

Jake’s expression softened. “I almost forgot how kind you are.”

“Our history is not her fault.”

Our eyes locked and the air around us grew so thick and hot, it felt like even my skin couldn’t breathe. I stood up, exhaling heavily, like I’d just come out of an oppressive sauna after being trapped inside for days. “I’ve got to go. I need to hit the gym.”

“You work out?”

I nodded, watching as he unfolded himself from the chair and stood to tower over me. “I still haven’t given up on the idea of applying to the police academy after college, and I think a cop should be in good shape.”

“Of course. I work out too. We should go together.”

I opened my mouth to say no but as soon as I looked up into his warm, eager eyes, I melted. “Okay.”

I was such an idiot.

Seconds after I threw the door open and saw Jake standing there, I burst out laughing, delighted at what he was wearing. “You didn’t!”

He grinned back at me. “You said you were going as a cop.”

I giggled as he reached out and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me against his body so he could duck his head and kiss me. My hands automatically wrapped around his neck and my lips parted to let his tongue dance with mine. We came up for air at the sound of a throat clearing. I tensed as I turned to find my dad in the doorway, glaring at Jake.

“Have her back by ten.”

Uh, I didn’t think so. “Dad, we’re going to Hub’s after the dance. A whole group of us.”

Dad’s mouth pressed tight as I begged him with my eyes. “Fine,” he sighed heavily. “Eleven.”

I was going to protest this as well, but Jake squeezed my waist to silence me and answered respectfully, “Eleven it is, Mr. Redford.”

Dad gave him a wary nod before his eyes flickered back to me. He took in my costume and grimaced. Feeling another argument coming on, I pulled out of Jake’s arms and gave my dad a quick kiss on the cheek. “Tell Mom I said goodnight.”

My dad’s expression softened and he brushed my jaw affectionately. “Have a good time, sweetheart.” His focus sharpened on Jake. “But not too good a time.”

“Dad, I’m going with Jake … I’ll have an awful time.”

Jake grunted behind me but I made Dad smile, so it was worth it. I said another goodbye and then Dad closed the door behind us. Jake held my hand as we walked to his truck.

“So, if you’re going to have such an awful time with me … why are we going?” Jake teased.

Glancing up at him from under my lashes, I checked him out in his tight, black, long-sleeved top, black jeans, black boots, and the black cloth with eyeholes cut out tied around his upper face. “I said that to loosen up my dad. If I told him the truth, he’d lock me up until I’m thirty.” I got into Hendrix as he held the door open.

“And what’s the truth?” he asked and then hurried to get into the driver’s side.

“That I’m even more smitten with my boyfriend since he dressed up as a robber to go with my cop costume.”

Jake chuckled. “Smitten?”

“It’s a good word.”

“It’s a little tame.”

“It’s too early in the night for anything racier.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “But you were thinking something racy?”

“Let’s just say I like your costume. A lot.”

As Jake slowed at a red light, he turned to look at me, his eyes drifting down my body and back up again. “I like your costume a lot too.”

After speaking to Lacey and Rose about costumes for the Halloween dance, I knew my cop costume was nowhere near as revealing as what they planned to wear, but my girlie cop costume was tight, so tight my dad nearly had an apoplectic fit. There was a point I didn’t think he’d let me out the door, but my mom managed to talk him around. I didn’t see what the problem was—I wasn’t showing any cleavage or leg. Okay, so maybe the pants fit like a second skin and I was wearing a padded bra under the snug blue shirt, but other than that, it was perfectly acceptable attire.

“Lukas is dressed like a robber too.”

I smiled. “Why?”

“Because it was an easy costume.”

“That’s really why you chose it, right?”

“Nope.” He smiled boyishly. “I chose it to increase the possibility of you using those cuffs on me later.”

Sometimes I wondered if he was trying to fluster me when he said stuff like that, but he really should know better by now. I patted the cuffs clipped to my belt. “Well, if you play your cards right …”

Unfortunately, Jake was hard to catch off guard. Rather than choke and get all turned on like any normal sixteen-year-old boy would, he just smiled like I amused him. “Baby, we ever really use cuffs, I won’t be the one in them.”

Now I was the one making strangled noises. “Jake!”

“What?”

“We’re sixteen!”

He laughed as he pulled into the school parking lot. “So?”

“It’s one thing to joke about it but another to actually ... you’re like a thirty-year-old trapped in a teenage boy’s body.”

“Wow.” Jake stopped the engine and turned to me. “I did it. I finally got you ruffled. Over handcuffs.” He winked at me. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He got out of the truck before I could punch him in the arm.

I got out after him. “You’re not funny.”

“I’m hilarious.” He pulled me into his side, letting go of my hand so he could wrap his arm around my waist.

Approaching school we saw a bunch of freshman hanging out at the main entrance. A tall kid dressed head to toe in black turned and I recognized him instantly. Lukas. Jake and I had been dating for almost two months and had each been to the other’s house for dinner. This meant I’d spent some time with his brother only to discover that Lukas was a younger version of Jake, brimming over with cocky charm and charisma.

As we drew to a stop in front of him, Lukas gave me a body scan as he whistled. “Looking hot, Charlotte.”

“Luke, eyes up or I’ll detach your retinas,” Jake warned.

Lukas grinned mischievously. “Not my fault your girlfriend is hot.”

“Lukas, stop checking me out. It’s weird. You’re a fetus.”

Looking affronted, Lukas held his hands to his chest. “Moi? I’ll have you know I’ve been sweeping women off their feet since I was five. I have a wealth of experience, baby. Ditch the old guy and I’ll show you the time of your life.”

“You need to stop spending time with your brother.” I glanced up at Jake, glaring at him. “He needs to stop spending time with you.”

Jake’s body shook against mine as he laughed quietly. “This,” he gestured to Lukas, “has nothing to do with me. If this is how I act, shoot me, shoot me now.”

“Pfft.” Lukas made a face. “You wish you had my game.”

Jake closed his eyes as if in pain. “It hurts, it physically hurts.”

I laughed and tugged on Jake’s waist. “C’mon. Let’s leave the player to play.”

Throwing me a wink scarily like the one Jake had given me in the car, Lukas turned back to his friends and my boyfriend led me into the dance. Lacey and Rose hurried over as we strolled into the darkened gymnasium, avoiding black and orange streamers, string, and fake webs. A paper spider fluttered into my face, almost scratching my cornea. I batted it away, tripping over Jake’s foot.

“Someone overdid it on the decorations,” I grumbled as Jake righted me.

“What are you wearing?” Lacey screeched and I turned in Jake’s arms with wide eyes.

“Ow!” I shook my ear out pointedly.

Lacey winced. “Sorry. But what are you wearing?”

“My cop costume. I told you.”

“But … I thought it would be like a skirt version. A short skirt version.” She gestured meaningfully to her and Rose’s costumes. Lacey was wearing a sexy vampire outfit, her dress a good few inches above her knees, while Rose was wearing a very short sexy nurse costume. Both were also showing off a lot of cleavage. It was a wonder they’d gotten past the chaperones, but as I studied the room, I saw there were quite a few sexy outfits and a lot of uncomfortable-looking male teachers. “The tight pants are hot, I’ll grant you, but a skirt would’ve been hotter.”

“I think she looks great,” Jake interjected.

Lacey rolled her eyes. “Of course you do.” She grabbed Rose’s hand and dragged her away. Rose, who hadn’t even gotten the chance to say hi, gave me a weak wave and followed Lacey through the crowd.

“Hey, Jake,” a senior girl cooed as she walked past. She was wearing the same sexy nurse costume as Rose.

“Hey,” he gave her a small nod but turned back to me.

I raised an eyebrow at him. “You are good.”

“Good, how?”

“She just gave you ‘the nod’ while wearing a naughty nurse costume and you barely batted an eyelash. I appreciate the effort that must’ve taken.” I squeezed his hand.

Jake didn’t laugh, however. Instead he ducked his head, his lips grazing my ear as he replied, “I’ve got the most beautiful girl in the room on my arm. Why would I look elsewhere?”

I shivered and leaned closer into him as he grazed his lips across my neck.

“Dance with me?”

I nodded my throat clogged with emotion and the sharp realization that it took very little for Jake to turn me on. When I’d been dating Alex, I’d barely felt a thing. It was like Jake had flipped the switch on my hormones.

Dancing with my cheek on Jake’s shoulder, my body enfolded against his, I saw Alex across the room. He had his jock friends around him and they all seemed to be having a good time, but Alex was staring a little forlornly at me and Jake, hitting my guilt button big time. He’d gotten more and more distant these last two months and Brett had become an even bigger douchebag, making snide remarks to me and Jake in class and out. We were doing a good job of ignoring it, knowing Brett was deliberately trying to provoke Jake into a fight. Jake wasn’t easily provoked, especially since it was him I was making out with on a daily basis. The only time he’d gotten close to losing it was when Brett had made some sexual remarks about me. I’d had to pull Jake away and take him into the library to cool off.

Jake’s family still hadn’t been having the easiest time of it in Lanton. Whether it was Trenton or Brett or a loyal sheep from either posse, someone had been making prank calls to the Caplin house, Logan’s car tires had been slashed at Hub’s, and worse, Jake’s mom’s cat had gone missing five days ago. We didn’t know if it was foul play but my mom said she wouldn’t put anything past Trenton Thomas.

It wasn’t a surprise to me that an hour later when Jake wandered off to the punch table to get us a couple of drinks, I saw Brett corner Lukas and his friend in the back of the gymnasium. I narrowed my eyes, not liking the sight of Brett and Damien Nixon towering over the freshmen. Where the hell was Alex? He was usually the one that reined in their behavior.

When Brett shoved Lukas and Lukas got in his face, my stomach churned.

Brett was really a big enough asshole to target Jake’s little brother?

I jerked my head around to make sure Jake hadn’t seen it yet and was relieved to find Amanda Reyes talking to him, keeping him distracted. Anger fueling me, I strode toward Brett ready to kick his ass, only to be abruptly stopped by Alex.

He did not look amused.

“Don’t, Charley. I’ll handle Brett.” He turned on his heel, followed by two more of his buddies, both of them seniors and on the football team. Lukas saw them coming and I saw a flicker of fear in his eyes that I hated. He clearly thought Alex was there to create more hassle. I was so relieved when Alex grabbed Brett by the neck, dominating him. Whatever he said made Brett blanch and nod. Alex let him go and Brett’s face darkened with humiliation. He nodded at Damien and they backed away from Lukas.

While Brett and Damien followed the seniors to the other side of the room, Alex made his way back to me.

“Thank you,” I said as soon as he reached me.

Alex nodded. “I told Brett to back off. I’m not happy with him lately. I’ll try to keep him off your back.” His eyes softened. “You know I don’t want to cause you trouble, Charley.”

“I know that. And I really appreciate you helping out Lukas.”

“No problem. Maybe save me a dance later?”

I felt heat at my back and then Jake asked, “What’s going on?”

I looked up at him over my shoulder and smiled a little weakly. “Nothing.”

When Jake’s eyes hardened, the atmosphere between us thickened. Sensing it, Alex gave him a tough guy chin nod and shot me an appreciative look before heading across the gym to his friends.

“I know when you’re lying, Charley.”

“It was nothing. Brett was giving Lukas a hard time. I was going over there to sort it out but Alex saw it happening and dealt with it.”

Watching the muscle tick in Jake’s jaw, I realized maybe honesty in this instance might not have been the best policy.

“That’s it. I’m done with this shit. He and I are having it out.”

Definitely not the best policy.

“No.” I grabbed his arms, pulling him closer to me. “Alex warned him off and he’s his teammate, so he has sway over him. He’s also friends with the seniors and if Alex asks them to, the seniors on the team won’t have Brett’s back. And if they don’t have his back, Brett is effed.”

Jake ducked his head to meet my gaze as he cupped the back of my neck. “It shouldn’t be up to Alex to deal with someone who is hassling my girl and bullying my brother.”

“Jake, you know Brett is looking for an excuse to fight you. Don’t give it to him. That’s drama we don’t need.”

His grip on me tightened. “You suggesting I’d get hurt in a fight with Brett?”

Giving him my “what the fuck?” face, I answered, “Did I say that? Were those the words that came out of my mouth?”

He stared at me a moment before shaking his head. “Whatever, smart-ass.” Jake sighed but my body relaxed as I realized he was giving in. He released his hold on my nape only to place his hands on my hips. .

“Where are our drinks?”

He shrugged. “I kind of left them when I saw you talking to Alex.”

Of course he did.

Sensing my annoyance at his obvious jealousy, he pulled me closer. “I like your costume.”

“You already said that.”

“I meant it.”

He kissed me.

My irritation melted and I sank against him, opening my mouth and kissing him back, deepening it. I loved the way his fingers tightened on my hips, almost bruising as they flexed with need.

“Ahem.”

A loud clearing of the throat once again drew us apart and I pulled back to stare at a smirking Lacey. “We’re bored and Alex is having a party at the gazebo again. You coming?”

That sounded just wonderful. Not. “We’ll catch up with you.”

Satisfied, Lacey and Rose took off.

Looking back at Jake, I found him scowling at me. “We’ll catch up with you?”

I shrugged. “If I said we weren’t going, she would’ve argued with me until I’d have no choice but to slay her.” I wrapped my fist around my invisible stake and demonstrated by hitting it softly against his heart. “My little white lie got rid of Vampyra peacefully instead.”